


Underneath the Christmas Tree

by carolinablu85



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Reunited and It Feels So Good, puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-01
Updated: 2012-04-01
Packaged: 2017-11-02 21:49:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/373703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinablu85/pseuds/carolinablu85
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>I don't want a lot for Christmas/ There is just one thing I need...</i> *Art posted within!*</p>
            </blockquote>





	Underneath the Christmas Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an awesome, awesome friend on LJ for Christmas (ladysonsie), finally posting here! And beautiful, amazing, perfect art for the fic is below, by an equally amazing LJ friend (sarafim). Thanks for reading!

“Noah.” Luke nudges him- in the shoulder, he thinks, whatever part’s closest- half-heartedly.  
  
Noah doesn’t answer. Doesn’t move.  
  
“Noah,” he tries again, trying to raise his voice a little, as much as he can with the little energy he has. “My leg’s falling asleep. Move.”  
  
Still nothing. Well, okay, maybe Noah murmurs something and scoots  _closer_ , but that doesn’t really help. His leg is still pinned under 6 feet of Mayer. And now his hip is too, and part of his stomach.  
  
But, hey- the upside is that more of his very naked boyfriend is within reach, so Luke decides not being able to move his leg is maybe worth it. He reaches down, pets through Noah’s hair for a moment, then trails down to his back. It’s wide and warm and still slightly sweaty, and Luke lays his hand flat against it, fingers splayed, riding the up and down of Noah’s deep breaths. And maybe he murmurs something too, nonsensical and content. Because maybe he is.  
  
Content.  
  
Noah’s arm stretches a little and comes up over Luke’s stomach, elbow landing on his far hip, hand on Luke’s chest near where his face is resting. Luke smiles, going back to rubbing his back, slow and steady. “You’re such a  _guy_ ,” he whispers. “Isn’t it kinda cliché to fall asleep right after sex?” He uses his other hand to card through Noah’s hair again. “I mean, yeah, I’m flattered that I can apparently literally fuck your brains out, but really...”  
  
Still no response from Noah. Luke can’t help but grin. “You have a very strange talent, you know that? I’ve never seen you sleep through an alarm ever. I had to  _explain_  what a snooze button was. But you can sleep through anything else.” Thunderstorms, that tiny earthquake, their next door neighbor breaking up with her boyfriend at 4am, Luke’s post-sex ramblings, Noah doesn’t even twitch.  
  
He holds Noah’s elbow with one hand and his back with the other and kinda tugs. And, just like he wanted, Noah willingly moves with him, settling up higher against Luke’s body like a sleepy toddler being taken to bed- no protest, not even opening his eyes. Luke loves it. He kisses the top of Noah’s head and keeps rubbing his back. “I love you, you know,” he whispers some more. “I love that you did this for me.”  
  
Noah mumbles something in his sleep. Luke takes it as an ‘I love you too’ and glances around the room from their position sprawled across the floor. The only light is from their Christmas tree, the lights somehow twinkling even though the branches aren’t moving. Even though everything in the room is still and quiet.  
  
It’s not a real tree. Neither of them had the time to set aside and go out and pick a real one out. Luke thought he had kept the disappointment about that hidden, but somehow Noah must have figured it out anyway, because today when Luke got home, the tree had been soaked in PineSol. Not  _quite_  real, but close. Perfect, somehow. The entire room was; Noah had been busy.  
  
They had decided this year to stay in LA for Christmas- with their work schedules and the hassle of holiday travels- and go to Oakdale for New Years. It had seemed like such good idea when they thought it up- their first Christmas just them, kinda like they were becoming grownups!- but as it got closer to Christmas Eve, Luke found himself missing the Snyderness of it all.  
  
And again, he thought he’d done a good job of hiding it, but Noah knew. Luke had gotten home today from a stupidly long foundation meeting to find the apartment completely redone- lights up everywhere, holly around the door, even (dear  _God_ , Noah) a fake fireplace made out of cardboard, with stockings hung on it. And best of all, fake snow on the windows.  
  
Luke stares out the window now, pretending the snow is falling and gathering at the windowsill. The tree’s lights reflect in the window a little bit, shimmering, and suddenly Luke just feels so warm and happy. He holds Noah tighter to him. “I’m so glad I’m here with you,” he keeps quiet. He’s glad that, three years and four months after watching Noah walk away from him at WOAK, they’re here together. And he’s extra glad their next door neighbor wasn’t home this evening when Luke pounced on Noah and had his wicked way with him.  
  
Hence, the thoroughly fucked-out boyfriend sleeping half on top of him now. He stretches the other half of his body, hiding a groan but loving the feeling of tired, sore muscles. Settling back down on the floor, he becomes aware of a sound filtering through the otherwise silent room. A scratching, faint at first, then getting more frantic. The bathroom door. “Crap,” he mutters. They shut it all the way, didn’t they? There’s no way-  
  
A little  _click_  is his answer, and then there’s uncontrollable tapping and scrambling, tiny panting breaths, and an eleven-pound fur ball runs head-first into Luke’s face. “Patti!” he half-hisses, reaching up with one hand to corral the puppy closer. Patti just nips at his fingers, wiggling out of the way, sniffing a happy path around the couch once, twice, then back to Luke’s outstretched hand. “Shhh, Patti,” he tries to calm her, petting her head and back (maybe kinda like how he had just been petting Noah...). Patti whines but goes still, curling up at Luke’s side on the floor, licking his fingers.  
  
“How’d you get out of your crate, girl?” his voice always gets higher pitched when he talks to their dog, he can’t help it. Noah loves to tease him about it, but he’s also pretty sure Noah loves to listen to it, too. As though proving his point, Noah shifts a little against him now, but stays asleep. Patti eyes Noah eagerly, two paws going up onto the blanket covering their lower halves, and Luke could swear he hears a sigh when Noah doesn’t get up to play with her.  
  
“It’s okay, P-nut,” he grins. “We’ll wake him up soon.” It’s almost midnight. He looks around the room again, taking in the decorations, the puppy gnawing on the end of their blanket, the long body draped against him. “I can’t believe we’re all here,” he whispers to the air. “There was a part of me that wasn’t sure it would ever happen.”  
  
Patti gets up to investigate the blanket further, and Luke pets her absentmindedly. “See, this time three years ago, your humans were being pretty stupid.” Patti growls a little. “I know, shock, right? But we were. We were punishing ourselves for stuff we’d done, but...” he pauses, gets his breath back. “We were really hurting each other too.” He tightens his hold on Noah. “We had a huge fight the week before Christmas, did you know that?”  
  
 _”Either there’s a chance for us to get back together, or there isn’t. I need to know.”  
  
“I need you to stop pressuring me on this!”  
  
“Then tell me how you really feel, stop avoiding me!”  
  
“Fine, you want to know how I feel? I feel like it’s easier for me when you’re not around.”_  
  
He winces a little, then shakes his head. No. That’s all behind them. They’re both done feeling guilty about the past. “It looked like your humans were never going to get their shit together.” He smirks a little at the top of Noah’s head, triumphant. Noah, adorably but frustratingly, has this weird thing about not cursing in front of the dog, like Patti is going to repeat the words at doggy daycare or something. “But then,” Luke pulls Patti up onto his chest, scratching though her wiry fur, “my dad got so fed up with us both, he flew out here to California himself. Didn’t tell me, didn’t tell your other daddy, he just showed up in LA.”  
  
Man, he still wishes he could’ve been there to see Noah’s face when Holden knocked on his door. He wrinkles his nose at Patti, who is leaning in to sniff and lick at his face. “So I bet you can imagine how shocked I was when Dad calls me from Noah’s apartment, right? And you can imagine how stuttery Noah was when Dad put him on the phone too and made us talk with a, like, Dad-mediator to help.”  
  
At the time it couldn’t have been more mortifying, but looking back, Luke realizes it was the perfect plan. Holden always knew how to relate to Noah, knew the right things to say to get Noah to talk. And actually being there with him had probably given Noah the courage and confidence to really talk to Luke. Two days later, when Holden flew back home for Christmas, Noah had come with him.  
  
“And the rest, as they say, is history,” he finishes, turning his face to the side to avoid Patti’s puppy-breath. Patti takes the opportunity to bite at Luke’s hair instead, pulling on some strands. “Hey!”  
  
There’s a sound next to him. “Told you you need a haircut.”  
  
He play-glares down at the face looking up at him. “Hey,” he says again, indignant this time.  
  
Noah grins, fuzzy and sleepy, stretching long for a second- feet sticking out from under the blanket- before curling up around Luke again. “What time is it?”  
  
“Five more minutes,” he answers, hooking his arm around Noah’s shoulders. “And my hair is just fine, thank you.”  
  
Noah opens his mouth to reply, but at that moment Patti realizes her other human is finally awake. With a tiny  _yap_  she springs forward on Luke’s chest, attacking Noah’s face this time, curl-of-a-tail wagging frantically. Noah chuckles, scratching at her little triangle ears. “Hey, pup. You’re supposed to be in your crate.”  
  
“Aw, we’ll let it slide tonight, won’t we?” Luke grins when Patti starts whining and talking again, trying to climb onto Noah’s shoulder and chest, pawing at him.  
  
Noah groans and turns a little more onto his back, letting Patti crawl between them, turning around twice before settling on the blanket. “The things I do for you, Snyder.” His head doesn’t leave its place on Luke’s shoulder.  
  
Luke kisses his forehead. “I know, I know,” he sighs. “You must wonder all the time whether I’m worth it.”  
  
Noah turns enough to look up at him, studying his face, all teasing gone from his expression. “Nope,” he says simply. They stare at each other in that way they always do, that way that always makes Casey roll his eyes and makes Emma shake her head affectionately. He doesn’t even realize they’re kissing until Noah pulls back, smiling again. “You’re worth more than all of it,” he says, eyebrow crinkling at the end like he hopes Luke understands what he’s saying.  
  
Of course Luke does. He rolls onto his side too, so they’re facing each other. Patti snuffles disapprovingly at the change, gets up and repositions herself so she can rest her head on her paws, stretched between them. Noah looks down at their dog with a smile, rubbing between her ears again. Luke reaches out and smoothes down Noah’s hair, breathing in deep. The smell of PineSol, cinnamon candles, Noah, and dog. He kinda loves it. “11:59,” he whispers.  
  
Noah looks back up. “Huh?”  
  
Luke leans into the empty space and kisses him. “Give it a minute.” And, knowing the best way to spend that minute, he kisses him again, taking his time, holding Noah’s face with one hand, deep, encompassing. He could sense Noah raise his eyebrows, even with his eyes closed, but just as quickly sink into the kiss, leaning into Luke’s touch and his mouth, that little mmph-hum rising from the back of his throat to Luke’s ears. Luke smiles into the kiss, slipping his other hand under the blanket, running it along Noah’s hip and leg. Then, only then, he pulls away. “There.”  
  
Noah’s eyes are still closed, his lips still parted. “Wh...?” is as much noise as he can make.  
  
Luke squeezes his thigh gently where he’s holding it. “It’s been a minute.” He nods over to the clock on the DVD player. “It’s midnight.”  
  
Noah is still confused, like he knows he should understand what Luke’s saying but he kinda just wants to get back to kissing him. “So?”  
  
“So...” Luke kisses first Patti, then Noah, on their noses. “Merry Christmas.”  
  
Noah’s face is flushed and happy, but he puts on a pout. “You kiss the dog before you kiss your boyfriend? Nice.”  
  
“Well,” he smirks, trailing his fingers slowly and lightly up Noah’s inner thigh, “Soon as we put the dog back in her bed I have other plans for the boyfriend.” He stays still long enough to enjoy the shudder Noah doesn’t hide, then slips out from under him and the blanket, and picks up Patti. “Back to your crate, young lady,” he mock-orders, holding her out long enough for Patti to slobber over Noah’s face one last time before taking her back to the bathroom, shutting the door much more securely this time.  
  
When he gets back, Noah has kicked the blanket free, lying on his side looking at the tree. “You know, we got more presents for Patti than we got for each other,” he says as Luke joins him on the floor again.  
  
Luke shrugs, unrepentant. “Is there something else you need?” he flutters his eyelashes, his hand going to Noah’s chest, lower and lower.  
  
Noah grabs his hand and yanks, pulling Luke on top of him, chest to chest. “Nope,” he says it again, just as simply, just as surely. And sometimes Luke wants to get mad at how Noah can turn a silly situation into something so sweet. Noah, unrepentant or oblivious, brings Luke’s head down, meets him for a kiss that melts into Luke’s bones.  
  
He settles with his arms braced on the floor on either side of Noah, combing through his hair with both hands. “Thank you for doing this,” he says it into the skin of Noah’s jaw, his neck. “I love it. Love you.” Down to his chest, where he leaves a kiss over Noah’s heart, then looks up at him again. “Noah-“  
  
“Luke, shut up,” he grins wide, goofy. Happy. “Love you too. Now fuck me again.”  
  
Luke half-laughs and half-moans. “I see. Now that Patti is away you can use that kind of language?”  
  
Noah breathes deep, eyes fluttering shut, as Luke’s hands wanders down his stomach to his cock, giving it a few strokes. “You joke now, but you’re gonna be the one to explain to Emma why our child is saying ‘shit’ in her farmhouse.” It takes about fifteen seconds after that for Noah to realize Luke’s hand isn’t moving. His eyes open. “What-?”  
  
Luke is still, staring, pretty close to feeling like he was hit in the head with a bowling ball. “You- you think about stuff like that?”  
  
Noah’s eyes clear just enough for him to smile again, that gentle one that pulls at the side of his mouth. “’Course I do,” he says softly.  
  
Luke dives in for a kiss, getting an  _mmph_  out of Noah before he kisses back, their mouths fusing together, Luke wishing he could get closer, deeper, taste the next words Noah might say before he even says them. “You,” he pulls back, then kisses him again. “Are so,” another kiss, nudging Noah’s legs farther apart, “getting lucky,” he settles between those legs, “tonight.”  
  
Noah moans, his hips coming up a little to meet Luke, who’s already started roll his down against him without realizing. “Thought I already was,” he manages to get out. And really, yet again, Luke can’t be mad. Because he knows the feeling.  
  
Lucky.

 

 

 


End file.
